The region around the massive star IRS2

Colour composite image of the central part of the stellar cluster RCW 38, around the young, massive star IRS2, taken with the NACO adaptive optics instrument attached to ESO's Very Large Telescope. Thanks to this image, astronomers were able to discover that IRS2 is in fact a twin system composed of two almost equally massive stars. The astronomers also found a handful of protostars – the faintly luminous precursors to fully realised stars – and dozens of other candidate stars that have eked out an existence here despite the powerful ultraviolet light radiated by IRS2.

The image is based on near-infrared data taken through three different filters (J, H and K). The field of view is about 1 arcminute across.

Kilde:

ESO

Om billedet

Id:eso0929a
Type:Observation
Udgivelsesdato:19. august 2009
Relaterede pressemeddelelser:eso0929
Relaterede meddelelser:ann15076
Størrelse:947 x 934 px

Om objektet

Navn:RCW 38
Type:Milky Way : Star : Grouping : Cluster
Afstand:5500 lysår
Constellation:Vela
Kategori:Star Clusters

Billedformater

Stor JPEG
156,1 KB
Skrærm JPEG
128,9 KB

Baggrundsbilleder

1024x768
135,8 KB
1280x1024
202,6 KB
1600x1200
274,8 KB
1920x1200
310,5 KB
2048x1536
408,4 KB

Koordinater

Position (RA):8 59 5.77
Position (Dec):-47° 30' 37.56"
Field of view:0.85 x 0.84 arcminutes
Orientering:Nord er 0.0° droite fra lodret

Farver & filtre

BåndTeleskop
Infrarød
J
Very Large Telescope
NACO
Infrarød
H
Very Large Telescope
NACO
Infrarød
K
Very Large Telescope
NACO